


Damn that was a rough day

by livestolearn



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Cutting, Detox, Don and Colby to the Rescue, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-09-18 01:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9360191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livestolearn/pseuds/livestolearn
Summary: Colby Granger is a military man at heart and as such he's forced himself to avoid thinking of the men in his life as gay. Even if they trip his gaydar hard. So when he goes to a bar to unwind and he spots Charlie Eppes he's understandably shocked. He watches as the innocent professor drags a random stranger into the back room of a seedy bar and realizes something is dreadfully wrong. He is determined to find out what's going on so he confronts the man on his way out the bar. Colby couldn't believe it when Charlie runs away as if he'd been caught breaking the law.This brief interaction starts Colby and Charlie on a journey of recovery and self-discovery. Don and his three year long one night stand Michele DiNozzo get dragged along for the ride.





	1. The Case

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story (originally posted on LJ) that I recently rediscovered on my hard drive and I realized that I hadn't finished it. So, I have undertaken the completion on this novel. I'll try to post a chapter a week as I complete the rest. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Feedback and comments are always welcome. I am working to improve my writing so if you notice grammar or spelling errors don't hesitate to let me know and I'll edit as soon as possible. :)

_‘Damn that was a rough day’_ thought Colby as he hit send on his report (finally). _‘Oh man, I need a drink…’_ He thought with a sigh. Packing up his stuff he slipped out of FBI headquarters without his co-workers noticing. Jumping into his car Colby turned on his iPod to listen to a little down tempo, hoping it would calm his nerves as he sped toward his favorite bar.

The drive let him shake off the rage of a crappy case with too many dead children (it was only one but that was still too many). Parking in the lot and watching the line of partiers helped him settle from angry to simply depressed. Colby stripped off all the physical vestiges of work, leaving only a tight black sleeveless tee and his jeans. The change of outfit moved him from depression to simply sad.

The bouncer recognized him and flagged him through the crowds and inside with a smack on his ass. Colby smiled and shouted “Thanks.” Most of his black mood lifted at the familiar sight of sweaty bodies moving on the dance floor. Colby ordered an imported beer and took a seat in the corner to watch. Tense muscles loosened up enough to stop aching, the beer did its job and let him move to the dance floor; finally, he managed to relieve the last of the tension in his back as added his body to the grinding mass on the floor.

Colby danced until fatigue got the better of him. He returned to the bar to order another drink and was about to take his seat when he caught a glimpse of a familiar head of curly hair. Stealthily slipping out of sight, the FBI agent was greeted to the astonishing sight Professor Charles Eppes dragging a large blond man into the back room. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. His bosses little brother was not only gay but he was picking up in a bar, in a less than stellar part of town!’ Heading back over to the bouncer, Colby decided to find out if Charlie was a regular or if he should be running into the back to rescue an innocent guy. “Hey man, did you see that curly haired dude with the phi symbol on his shirt?”

“Why? You interested?” The bouncer said with a laugh.

“Look, I know him, but figured him for straighter than an arrow. Not to mention as innocent as they come.” Colby responded defensively.

The guy laughed so loud Colby thought he might damage his vocal cords. “That kid? Innocent? Ha! Right. Honestly Colby, that kid,” he pointed in the general direction of the back, “is trouble; you really ought to stay away from him man. He drives the unfortunate ones who get mixed up with him _insane_. One of the unstable ones you know. Just got off a six month ban from the property. I almost didn’t let him in.” The bouncer said sadly.

“Charlie? Are you kidding me, maybe we aren’t talking about the same guy? Brown eyes, early thirties, five foot seven inch tall math genius?”

“If his name is Charlie then yeah, we are talking about the same dude. I think he is one of those people who hate themselves because they can’t get enough dick. He punishes anyone who shows an interest.” Colby was becoming alarmed. That was not the profile of the happy go lucky young man he had been pining after for years. “Wait, did you say he is a genius? That so strange, he comes off as a bit slow to me.” At that moment Charlie popped out of the back looking disheveled, followed by the blond, who didn’t look happy. Colby graced the bouncer with a hard look and he headed over to intercept his bosses brother.

Over the din, he heard the bouncer shout, “you’re an idiot Granger, playing with fire.” Ignoring this, Colby continued on his path. At some point, Charlie noticed and a look of sheer panic crossed his face. Colby couldn’t believe his eyes when he turn and run out the back. The problem was easily solved by heading out the front door and looking for the man’s car. When a winded Charlie approached, he seemed genuinely surprised that he had been caught.

“You know man, the guilty always run. What’s going on?” He turned on his heels, pulled out his cell and booked it back inside the club. The bounder just shrugged and grabbed him by the collar, pushing him out. Charlie shouted something at him and the guy let him inside.

Colby leaned on Charlie’s car and watched. The kid had to know that he’d just show up at his house to talk to him. He was acting like he was breaking the law or something, not just picking up and it had Colby scratching his head. It took a few minute for a cab to arrive and when it did Charlie all but sprinted up to the door and jumped in. Colby couldn’t help but laugh, thinking it was a good thing that Charlie wasn’t a criminal. He would have been arrested before he actually committed a crime.

With a sigh Colby headed over to his car planning on driving to the Eppes residence. Halfway there, he realized that that might be a bad idea. If Charlie were drunk he wouldn’t be able to hold a coherent conversation anyway. He decided on catching up with him first thing in the morning. It was easy to find an excuse to go to CalSci.

The next morning, luck was with him and Don actually asked Colby to go drop off a few files. When he arrived at the school he parked beside Charlie’s car. Doing a few calculations in his head he realized that it was two in the morning when Charlie got that cab. That meant that if he was drunk, he was likely sill drunk when he picked up the car.

Walking up to the office, Colby looked in to find Charlie working, headphones on so loud that his music could be heard from the door. Colby chuckled, surprised that the professor wasn’t deaf. He slipped inside, closed the door, and waited for Charlie to notice him. With an indigent squawk that was almost funny, Charlie jumped a mile when he finally noticed he was locked in a room with the very person he dreaded seeing. Mustering his normal veneer of civility while at work, Charlie put on his best ‘hi, I’m a nerd’ face and responded with what he thought to be admirable cheer. “Oh, hey Colby, what can I do for you today?” Hiding his shaking hands behind his coffee mug, Charlie went back to starring at the equations he couldn’t even remember writing.

“Don asked me to bring these too you.”

“Oh, great put them on my desk there and I’ll look at them in a bit, I just have to finish up here first.”

“Actually Charlie, I was wondering if we could talk for a minute.” Charlie ground his teeth in frustration and came up with a lie as quickly as he could.

“Sorry Granger, I have class in a few minutes, so I won’t be able to take the time.” An unfortunate amount of sarcastic leer came out during this statement but he hoped it would be missed.

“You don’t have classes till later today. Look, Charlie either you’re going to talk to me now, or I’m going to tell your brother that you literally ran from me last night. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were doing something illegal.” Colby was surprised when Charlie’s face blanched at those words.

“I just didn’t want to talk to you last night, and what’s more I don’t want to talk to you now. Go ahead and tell Don, there is nothing either of you can do about what bars I attend and who…..argh, It’s not what you think! I was… I just… Oh never mind. I’m leaving now” Colby was too surprised to stop him as Charlie pushed past and took off down the hall.

Back at the office Colby debated talking to Don. Charlie said he didn’t mind, but Don might not be the best person to talk to about this. Something big was going on and Colby wanted to get to the bottom of it first. He decided to investigate Charlie in an attempt to get to the bottom of his strange behavior. Colby drafted a letter, and sent it snail mail. Now all he had to do was wait for a response.


	2. Detective Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colby gets to work figuring out Charlie Eppes. Charlie is behaving wildly out of character and Colby begins to suspect the problem.

Three days later, early Monday morning, Charlie opened an envelope addressed to him.

_Dear Charlie,_

_I haven’t discussed anything with Don. I have many reasons for doing this; one is that I respect your right to privacy. Another is that I would like to ask you out on a date. I hope that I’m not being too forward here, but I have been interested in you for years. I would like to meet you for dinner at Stilo’s at 8 pm on Friday night. If you wish to join me, text ‘yes’ to my work cell, I promise to not ask about the other night._

_Colby_

Charlie stared at the note for almost an hour before taking out his cell. Maybe it was time he asked for help. He sent a text. “Yes.”

The closer Friday came, the more Charlie’s control cracked, the gears in his head screaming from overuse. Everyone was up in his business. If he was subjected to one more invitation to talk or another suspicious glance he was going to snap. Charlie finally called in sick and locked himself in the garage. Every night after Alan was in bed, Charlie would sneak out of the house to try and silence the numbers.

Colby watched from a distance and fretted. He had no idea what was going on with the professor but it was obvious that being outed to Colby had thrown him way off balance. When Friday night came he took the time to dress nicely and arrived at the restaurant fully expecting to be stood up.

Alan almost refused to let Charlie out of the house, claiming that a date was worth less than his health. It took some doing, but Charlie finally pushed passed his father and headed out. “Trust me dad, this ‘date’ might be just what I need.” Alan was skeptical so he immediately called his oldest son to tell him about the latest development in Charlie’s apparent breakdown.

In the car on the way over to the restaurant, Charlie took a little something to calm him down, just like he always does when he goes out. At Stilo’s the two men took a table in the back. Charlie looked horrible, a vague shadow of the brilliant man Colby adored so much. His eyes were bloodshot; his hair, though brushed and styled, still looked out of control. “How are you Charlie?” Colby asked with concern.

Charlie, who had slipped into well worn patterns, that began soon after his mother died, responded promptly and with confidence “I’m fine, how are you?” Colby could not believe his ears, the flirty over confident tone was the last thing he expected. “Why did you ask me here, love, you looking for somethin’?”

Jerking back in something resembling disgust, Colby responded “Charlie, what’s wrong with you?” A look of confusion passed through the other mans eyes before any vestige of intelligence left and he shrugged.

“Nothin’s wrong, I just figured you wanted something other than Charlie the geek. I can do that for you, and no one ever has to know. What other reason could you have for being at that club? You want a piece of something and you found me. I must admit that I would rather you have ignored it, I don’t like mixing work with hell, but now that it’s happened, I can assure you, it won’t cause any trouble.” All through this shocking speech Colby’s look of pure disgust grew until his beautiful face was nearly unrecognizable. 

“Look Charlie, I don’t know what I want, but I can assure you it’s not this. I want _you_ , not whatever front you’re giving me here. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” Charlie gave a rather pathetic attempt at a pout before recovering.

“I’m sorry, I’m too forward sometimes, I’m not really very good at this dating thing, probably why I can’t even keep a chick.”

Colby back peddled a bit, “OK, look, let’s just do this as friends, and if things change, maybe I’ll consider moving into something else. But man, you have got to talk to me about what is going on before I will make that move.” Charlie looked like his world had been cut out from under him. He stuttered out a need to use the restroom and left a shocked Colby at the table. He ran through Chalrlie’s speech. _‘_ Can’t even keep a chick?’ Colby realized that Amita might have some answers for him. He quickly dialed her new number.

“Hello?”

“Hi Amita, its Colby…”

“Oh, hey what’s up, I haven’t heard from you since I moved.”

“Look, Amita, I don’t have a lot of time right now, but I need you to answer a question, why did you break it off with Charlie?”

There was a brief stunned silence and then a quite “do you want the reason I’ve been telling everyone or the real reason?”

“I’m on a date with Charlie, at least I think it might have been Charlie at some point…” there was a sigh on the other line.

 “So, you want the real answer then, I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he’s gay. I can tell you that much. The entire time we were dating, he would go cruising. I also think he might have a drug problem. Once I found out, I ran. I couldn’t deal with it. I don’t have the social skills to cope with it. I’m sorry Colby, but if you can help him… please try. There was nothing I could do I’m really sorry.”

“Damn, he’s coming back to the table; can I call you later to talk?”

“Sure, I’ll be waiting”.

“Who was that?” Charlie asked suspiciously.

“Umm, work,” undercover work had taught him how to think quick on his feet, the lie he came up with was not only believable it was an open invitation. “Just checking about my week off, apparently, too much over time.”

“Oh, you have a week off soon?”

“Yip, I was really hoping to go somewhere quiet. I was thinking of getting a beach house up the coast. I know of a beautiful little set of cottages down south a bit.” Colby was surprised at how easily that lie came out. But he had a plan forming in the back of his mind. If Charlie was drinking, and maybe even drugging, Colby had a responsibility to help his friend.

“A beach house hmm, sounds nice.”

“Maybe if things work out with us, you could join me?” Colby said shyly.

“That, I can do! I’m taking a sabbatical for a few months anyways; no classes and I have people who can take over my other obligations.” The rest of the conversations were about sabbaticals, work, and vacations. Colby kept things purposefully light until the end of the meal; frankly, he wasn’t sure Charlie could have kept up a complex conversation. “Charlie, I know I said I wouldn’t ask about the bar, so I won’t but…” Charlie visibly braced himself for his dinner companion’s next words. “Is there anything I can do to help you, you seem a little off balance. You’re not the man I met years ago and I would like to see him come back.” For a minute, it looked like Charlie was going to burst into tears, but the shutters came down and he answered flippantly “I’ll be fine, I just need some time away that’s all.” There was a long pause as they paid the bill and headed to their cars. Charlie took a deep breath and looked Colby in the eyes “I suppose it’s too much to ask if I can follow you home?”

“Yeah Charlie, it is, maybe another time.”

“No, its OK I understand…” he then nervously added “I might need to talk at some point, I… I … would like to have someone too….. Anyways I’ll talk to you later, let’s do this again sometime.” Charlie slammed his car door and took off out of the parking lot, leaving Colby in the dust, wondering if that was a cry for help. Colby hopped into his own car and headed home; once he arrived he called his informant back. Several hours later Colby was nearly panicked at how close they had all come to losing their favorite math prodigy. Nightmares greeted both men as they attempted to sleep.


	3. Plan and Execute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colby enlists Don's help to get Charlie some help. Don doesn't like it but he realizes he has to go with it inorder to save not only his brother's career but likely his life.

On Monday morning, Colby pulled Don into the break room and closed the door behind him. “Don, I have a huge favor to ask of you. I need to take the next two weeks off and…. And… I need you to trust me here, because I need to take Charlie with me.”

“What do you mean, take Charlie with you?” Confusion and a touch of suspicion colored the response. “Why would you need to do that?”

“Don, please let me explain. Charlie is… um… sick and he sort of asked me for help in dealing with it.” Don was about to interrupt when Colby almost violently gestured for quiet. “I can’t tell you what’s wrong, ‘cause he hasn’t told me yet, but I’m taking him to a cabin for a time out. I’ll give you the address and all the contact info you need, but promise me you won’t show up unless I call you. I’m asking for two weeks and I promise to take care of him.”

Don stood still for a moment and then he lunged forward pushing Colby up against the wall of the break room. “What the hell is going on, you have to tell me. NOW! He hasn’t been right in months and he has been falling apart for weeks.” Colby grunted with the impact but firmly pushed back, nodding his head as a way of promising to explain.

“Don, I think Charlie is on the verge of some sort of emotional breakdown. He reached out to me a while ago and I think it necessary. I called Amita and she agrees that the only way to get him to talk is to lock him up and wait for him to snap. You can’t do it; he can push enough of your buttons to make you give up. Your dad is great, but not strong enough to wait out whatever it is that Charlie is hiding. I want you to come up to help me out if he snaps, but other than that, I think the man just needs someone he trusts to talk to. I wish it was you, but…” Don had an expression that Colby never expected to see on his boss. Don looked like he was about to cry.

“I knew something was up, I’ve been trying to get him to talk for years.” He whispered, “I… why did he come to you?”

“Remember when he was shot at, during that reporter case?” Don nodded so Colby continued. “I took him out and made him talk to me about it; I could see him struggling with everything, so I confronted him. He really opened up to me about that particular event. I think that may be why he is coming to me now.”

“When did he come to you?” Don asked in a flat voice.

“I ran into him at a bar... I tried to talk to him then, but he actually ran away from me. Like literally ran like I was about to arrest him. The next day, I went to talk to him and asked him to join me for dinner so we could talk about it. He agreed and then he asked me for help, in a roundabout, rather inarticulate kind of way. “

“Ok, are you sure you can handle this? I mean if he really needs help, maybe a psychologist would be a better option.”

“He won’t go; he said he wouldn’t back with the reporter.” Don nodded, understanding Charlie’s reluctance to see a shrink. “OK Colby, I’ll give you your two weeks, but I want to hear from you at least every few days and don’t you hesitate to call if you get in over your head. When will you leave?”

With a dry laugh Colby responded, “That all depends, on whether Charlie agrees to come with me.”

“You haven’t asked him yet?”

“Not really. I think he thinks I was joking. But something tells me he is going to go, would you do one more thing for me?” Don looked into his friends eyes expectantly, Colby took a deep breath and asked the question he was sure was going to put an end to the whole plan. “Would you let me into the house so I can pack for him?” Confused, Don asked why. “I need to know exactly what he brings.”

“Colby, what are you implying?” Giving him a pained look Colby explained that he couldn’t really tell him that right now. “OK, look if Charlie says yes, you can pack for him. I don’t like it, but I’m worried enough that I am going to go with it and I trust you. Call him now and ask.”

With a sigh, Colby pulled out the phone and dialed. “Hey Charlie… Yeah, I did call you again. No it’s not for work. I have a proposition for you… ha, not that kind of proposition… OK… I want to know if you will come with me to that beach house I was talking about? … two weeks… what do you care your taking a sabbatical anyway? I’ll talk to him… Yes I think he will be OK with it… No… No… You will? Great! How about we plan to leave tomorrow? … 9 am… OK, see you then.” Colby hung up the phone and looked at Don. “I’m planning on leaving tonight if I can. I don’t want to give him a chance to prepare. Can you get me into the house to pack now?”

“Let me call my dad and see if he wants to go out for lunch.” A few minutes later Don hung up his own cell. “We are in luck he is already out. Let’s get going. If you give him a chance to prepare he’ll back out won’t he?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” At the house, Colby nervously asked Don to wait outside while he packed for Charlie. Eppes just looked grim and opened the door. The task took about twenty minutes and Colby was taken aback by what he found. Several items strategically disappeared and several more found their way down a drain. Colby bolted down the stairs with the duffle bag over his shoulder when he heard a car door slam. He breathed a sigh of relief when he came to the door to find Alan chatting with his son.

“So, I hear your taking my son on a field trip? You had better keep him safe. I don’t like the idea of Charlie going off to work a case without Don.”

“Uh, don’t worry Mr. Eppes. We won’t be in any danger at all.” Don looked relieved at his agent’s diplomatic reply. “It’s a cold case that’s bordering on glacial.” He took a calming breath as Alan went inside.

“Thanks, that was smooth.”

“No problem, I didn’t want to worry him.” Colby gave Don a weary smile as he tossed Charlie’s things (contraband included) in his truck. “You gonna help me get him in the car when he gets here? I would rather not give him much time to think.”

“Why is this sounding more and more like an intervention?” Don muttered just loud enough to hear. “Ah well, sure I’ll help, but did you pack notepads and pens?”

“No, do you think I should?”

“If you don’t, he will end up writing on the walls, trust me. Hold on, I’ll run in and grab them.” A few seconds later Don arrived with a package of a hundred pencils, a sharpener, several erasers, and about two dozen new notebooks. “The more stressed he’s under the more he writes. I’m thinkin’ this is gonna be very stressful.” There was a long pause before Don spoke again. “Look, Colby, I won’t deny that I wish I was the one who was going to help him here, but I know that I would just make things worse. Please take good care of him. You have no idea how much he means to me.”

“I know, man, I know. I promise to keep him safe and I’ll call the minute things seem like they’re out of hand.” The conversation came to an abrupt end when a Prius pulled into the driveway.  

 “I suppose this would be a good time to clean out the garage?” Don asked in an arched voice.

 “Yes, I think it would be a great time Eppes.” The door popped open and a curly haired man stepped out, already looking suspicious. Charlie approached slowly, eyeing Colby, but he put on the adorable little brother act with Don. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Hey Chuck, Colby asked if you and he could go off on a little vacation together. I figured that if you didn’t leave right now I would end up dragging you both into a case or something. So I let him pack up your things, don’t worry there’s lots of pencils and paper; I figure you two ought to head out right now.”

“Oh, I’m just going to run into the house to say bye to dad, and … grab a few things.”

“Oh, you won’t need anything other than what I have for you, and your dad already knows your leaving. He told us to tell you good bye and that he will see you when we get back.”

“Just so you know, he thinks you’re going on a working trip. I figure you wouldn’t want him to know you’re going on vacation with Colby, he might get the wrong idea.” Charlie was starting to feel trapped, but he couldn’t let on just how panicked he was. He had to get his stuff! There was no way he could get away from Colby long enough to buy any. He backed away, desperate for an idea. Suddenly inspiration struck. “Hold On, I just got a new book that I left in the garage, if I’m going on vacation, I want to have something to read. I won’t go unless I can get that book.” With that Charlie bolted to the garage. He grabbed a random book and started searching for a stash.

Back in the yard Don looked over at Colby’s stony face. “He’s going for drugs isn’t he?” The only response was a curt nod. “Damn, how did I miss this?”

“I swear; I didn’t know for sure until I went through his room. Besides, he has never given you a reason to worry before. I figure I should let you know I’ve done this before. With my sister. I dragged her through my own brand of rehab. She’s still clean and it’s been years. I know what I’m doing.” Don breathed a sigh of relief and his confidence in Colby went up a notch. “Good luck Granger, I know he has problems and I hope you can help. I trust you.” Don said in a low voice just as the Charlie came slinking around the corner after having hidden his secret in a pocket inside his dress shirt. “Can I at least change?”

“Nope, it’s only a few hour’s from here. You can change when we get there. I don’t want to get enlisted, so let’s get on the road.”

Don practically picked Charlie up and threw him in the car. At first he seemed to fight, but he quickly ran out of energy. Successfully forced into a car with the one man who might be able to help him, Charlie decided that this was a good thing. He did however hope his family stayed out of his room till he got back. Just as they pulled out of driveway, Alan came outside to wave farewell to his youngest then he turned to his oldest to demand a real explanation for this strange abduction. Don brought his father into the living room. When the two of them started searching the garage they both learned just how much trouble Charlie was in.

Meanwhile, it donned on Charlie himself, just how much trouble _he_ was in when the doors and windows locked and Colby asked him to hand the drugs over.


	4. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colby finds out he's in way over his head. Charlie doesn't care.

The argument lasted for the first hour of the drive. Charlie even called his dad to beg for help. To the young mathematicians chagrin, his father was unsupportive in his bid to escape Colby’s clutches. He did say that this was very important and Charlie needed to take this time to calm down and work on himself.

“You know I could call the cops, peg you for kidnapping. Or better yet I’ll call the NSA and have you thrown into a deep dark pit.”

“Sorry buddy, but Don has already called them and told them that you are having a minor psychological breakdown and have been taken away by a friend for help. You call and all they are going to here is a desperate and kinda crazy man. I’m sorry that you feel trapped. I promise though, after a few days, you’ll feel less angry with me.”

A sly smile crept over his passengers features. “What are you planning to do to make me feel less angry Granger? Am I at least gonna get lucky?”

“I don’t know Charlie, from the way I saw you picking up in that bar, I’m a bit afraid of what you might be infected with.”

“Nah, man I’m clean, I always use protection and I rarely go all the way with any of the losers I pick up.”

“Uh, if that’s supposed to make me feel better, its not.” With a sigh Colby pulled into their first destination. “This place is a testing facility. A buddy of mine works here and he said he would rush a few tests on you to see if you are STD and STI free.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then despite how infernally attractive I find you, you will never get any from me, and I will remain just a friend, permanently.”

“Hmm, I do believe that implies an interest in having more than a one night stand with me!” Charlie said in a sing-song voice.

“Charlie, it won’t even be that if you don’t get out of the damn car.”

With a chuckle born of his frustration and confusion, Charlie stepped out of the car and went to find out if he was dying. Frankly, he wouldn’t be surprised if he picked up something nasty in the last few years.

To his surprise, Colby volunteered to get tested too. They paid the young man who did the tests several hundred dollars to keep quiet and several hundred more to run the results immediately. They would know by tomorrow night. “Good thing there’s cell service at the cottage.” Colby mumbled as they left the office, each with stinging right arms. Charlie got into the vehicle first and out of the corner of his eye, Colby caught the man palm something and then subtly take a drink of his cold coffee. _‘Damn, I’m going to have to strip search him.’_

Pretending not to notice, Colby got in the driver’s seat and left. Within half an hour Charlie was dozing off with a slight smile on his face. Just over three hours later Colby pulled up to the cottage he had rented. 

“Charlie, wake up buddy, we’re here…” no response. “Charlie!” He called in a little more exasperated tone. “Chuck!”

The drugged men stirred, and mumbled, “‘s no ma name Don. ’m sleeping, go ‘way…”

Colby chuckled, went over to the other side of the truck, and open the door. “I’d let you sleep more Chuck, but we’re here.”

“Too tired.” With a sigh, Colby unbuckled his companion’s seat belt and hauled him up over his shoulder. “whaddya doin’ Col?”

”Taking you inside, so you can sleep in a bed not a car.”

“Oh that sounds good, I think I can walk you know.” He slurred.

“Really? I’m not so sure about that.” Sure enough, the second Colby put the other man on the ground, he stumbled and nearly fell.

“Ok, maybe I need a bit ‘a help. Prob’ly don’t get enough rest at home.”

“Yeah, either that or you’re drugged and dumb enough to think I didn’t catch you.”

“No one ever accused me of being smart.”

Colby declined to respond to such a ludicrous statement. Instead he proceeded to manhandle Charlie into a bed. He immediately collapsed into a deep drug induced slumber.

Colby’s first job was to wrestle his unconscious companion into some comfortable clothing. Then he headed out to the truck to get their things. As he was dragging out his suitcase, he realized that he made a fundamental mistake, he forgot to get food! Thinking quickly, Colby ran back inside to check on the sleeping man. Judging from the snores he will be out like a light for a few more hours. He could work with this. There was a grocery store down the road.

Colby placed a notebook, open to the first page on the bed. He wrote a note explaining where he was and when he would be back. Then he jotted down what he could remember of the equation Charlie was working on the day after the bar incident. He knew that he got it mostly wrong but that wouldn’t matter, it’d drive Charlie to distraction so he’d take the time to correct it, buying Colby a few extra minutes to shop. Colby did a search of all the younger man’s pockets, removed whatever drugs he found there and grabbed the stash he had pulled out of Charlie’s room earlier that day. He dumped them all in a bag and placed them in a flower pot behind the cottage. Unless Charlie had drugs up his ass, he was pretty much shit out of luck. With one last check on his friend, Colby locked the door and headed out. On the way out the park he got Olivia at the front to keep an eye out for Charlie. If he tried to leave she’d call him.

Charlie woke up forty-five minutes later to an empty house. He was extremely confused because the last thing he remembered was being in the car with Colby. Now he was alone. He circled through the building several times searching for Colby, but he was no were to be found. He went back into the bedroom to get his cell to call Don for help when he noticed a note on the bed. Charlie berated himself for ignoring the obvious. Glancing down he read;

_Charlie,_

_I’ve run out to get food. The store is 15 minutes away if I drive at 62 miles an hour, I should take 45 minutes to shop for the week, and then I’m driving back to you. I left at 6:34. Sorry that’s the best I can do in giving you something to solve while you wait._

_Colby_

_P.S.: Why don’t you fix this up and explain it to me when I get back._

Below the note was an almost indecipherable jumble of numbers and letters pretending to make up an equation. Charlie almost dismissed it until he began to recognize it as the work he had been doing the day Colby first confronted him. Colby had recreated—badly—the trust metric that was used during the Janus List debacle, to see just how much they could trust Colby. Charlie had been working on a way to figure out if he could ask Colby for help. _“_ I guess I have my answer… _”_ he muttered. “But, this is all wrong.” With that Charlie was off.

Colby was nervous as he pulled up to the cottage, not knowing what he would find. Relief flooded him as he walked through the door with the first load of groceries. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table filling page after page with equations. Colby put down his burdens and leaned over the younger man to see what he was working on. “Hey buddy, I hope you plan on explaining that to me.” A soft smile playing on his lips as he ran his hands through Charlie’s tangled curls.

Much to Charlie’s surprise that touch almost brought him to tears. He actually felt something other than confusion, fear, and anger for the first time since Amita ran away. Shaking it off, Charlie attempted to smile up at his friend. “Sure, I’ll try…” This was uncomfortable, so he changed the subject “I hope you can cook ‘cause I am a dismal failure at anything domestic.”

Colby caught the hidden tears and it took all his will power not to pull the smaller man into an embrace. “Hey, do you wanna help me bring in the rest? That’s a domestic chore I’m sure you can handle.” With a small laugh Charlie got up to help. He was heading for the door when he realized something important, “when did I change and where are my shoes?”

“They’re in the bedroom, beside where I dropped you, along with the cloths I took you out of.” Charlie quickly retrieved his shoes, more than a little embarrassed that he couldn’t remember arriving.

As they headed out to the vehicle Charlie began an apology “Hey, Colby… I’m sorry, I…”

Not wanting to hear what was likely an insincere (or at the very least misguided) apology Colby interrupted. “Hey man, it’s OK. I’m not going to expect you to be fine tomorrow. That’s why I got two weeks; I also know we can take longer if we need to.” Again, tears threatened to fall as Charlie grabbed a few bags from the trunk.

“Colby, why do you care?”

“Because you’re my friend, man.” Charlie didn’t look like he believed that so he added, “I’ve had family members lose themselves to drugs, I know how to help you.” Several trips later, mostly conducted in silence, and they were done. Colby began putting things away as Charlie took a seat at the table.

“Who?”

“Pardon me?”

“Who was the family member?”

“My sister, she showed up at my door just after I got back from Afghanistan. I took her to a place similar to this. It took weeks for her to find her head again, but I was there for her every step of the way. My unit almost posted me as AWOL until I explained the situation. It’s part of why I left the army.”

“And took up a position as a triple agent?”

“No that came later. My turn to ask a question, how long have you been doing this?”

“What, sleeping around with men in bars or the drugs?”

“Both, but I’d rather know about the drugs.”

“I got into some stuff during my doctorate; I had it under control and only used it during crunch time. Once I finished up, I stopped. Then mom... I couldn’t get the math out of my head. I tried everything; I couldn’t hear or see anything, but numbers so I started looking for things to keep them at bay. I found three. Drugs, Sex and…. Well anyway the drugs and sex are the only ones that matter.”

“OK, I’ll let that be for a while, but I want you to tell me about the third part eventually. So we’re talking seven or eight years of fairly steady drug use then?”

“Pretty much…” As Charlie was talking, Colby had tossed a frozen pizza in the oven and it was almost done.

“Has any of it helped?”

A humorless laugh erupted from somewhere inside Charlie. “Does it look like it helped? I’m a mess, my family thinks I’m nuts, my friends won’t even talk to me anymore, and I’m going to lose my job. I’d say no, it’s not helped at all”

“You’re not going to lose your job Charlie. As long as you stop using they’ll keep you. You won’t lose me even if you don’t clean up. Your family knows what has been going on now, at least as far as the drugs. Sure they’re angry, but they’ll get over it. Your friends will back you; I mean hey, I’m here aren’t I?”

“I’m still having trouble defining what is motivating your actions here.”

“Charlie, you’re right, you’re a complete mess I’m here to help because I want to be isn’t that enough.” Charlie shrugged dismissively. Colby changed the subject abruptly. “Eat your pizza and go back to your numbers for a bit.”

They ate in silence for a moment then Charlie had a thought. “Where did you take all my stuff? Some of its prescription medication and besides, at this point withdrawals will likely kill me so I can’t do without it.”

“Actually, you can. It’ll be extremely hard but you’ll do it. Before I allow you access to your prescriptions, I need to know exactly what you’re on. I need to know if we have to wean you off or if you can stop cold turkey.” After that statement an awkward silence descended. They ate dinner and ordered an action movie on pay-per-view. Throughout the movie Charlie became increasingly restless, his hands started to shake a bit and the sweat was visible from across the room. As the credits began to roll, Charlie was up and pacing the room. With a sigh, Colby reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of five pills. At that moment he was glad his gun was in a safe in the truck because he was sure Charlie would have killed him to get that little bag.

As it was, Colby was forced to hold the smaller man back. “ _Charlie, sit down_!” Colby bellowed. Charlie seemed to realize what he was doing and he abruptly dropped to the couch. His eyes caught every movement of the drugs as Colby sat down. “OK, let’s begin with the hard stuff. I want to know exactly what all this is, where you get it, how you take it, and how much you take every day.”

“You’re the FBI agent; you should know what they are.”

“I need to know what you’re taking, so I know how to wean you off. Please, let’s just get this over with.” He looked at Charlie with imploring eyes, begging him to comply. Charlie relented.

“OK, the blue one with the ten on it, that’s Valium. I’ve been taking that since I was young. My mom got it for me because I was having panic attacks at school. It keeps me calm and helps me sleep. I get it from the drug store; I have a prescription for it. The pale yellow one with the 34 on it is Ritalin, I buy it from another professor at CalSci, no I’m not telling you who. I’ve been taking that since my Masters, but only when I’m working a lot during crunch time. The green one with the shamrock on it is speed that one’s for the really thought times when I’m chasing a deadline and don’t have time for sleep. I get the speed from the same professor that I get the Ritalin from. I didn’t start taking that till I was working with the FBI, my first child abduction case. The ones with hearts and cherubs printed on them, they’re ecstasy. I take a couple when I go out; otherwise I am too stressed out to have fun. I buy it from a bar tender. Again, no I’m not telling you which one. It’s not the bar where you found me. Those are the regulars. I have used a bunch of other stuff, mostly stimulants but I prefer Ritalin cause the side effects are less. I use weed if it’s an edible. I also tried Meth because a fellow student gave it to me when we were both doing a presentation. It’s the only time I have ever failed a project. Obviously, I never did it again, besides the smoke hits your lungs like a punch it’s almost painful until the high sets in. About a year ago, a friend gave me cocaine, but before I could take it, Don asked me to help with a case involving some kids who overdosed on the stuff. I threw it out.” Charlie paused for a breath then started again. “I take three or four Valium pills a night, 20 mg dose each. Over the past two months I have been taking five or six Ritalin per day at a 20 mg dose each. I use ecstasy two or three times a week, but I don’t really know how much is in the pills. I’ve been hitting up speed once a month or so. Oh, I don’t drink, other than a couple beers a week with Don, because mixing Valium and alcohol is dangerous.”

Colby made a choking sound that almost approached a tortured laugh of shock. “Charlie, man, I hate to tell you this but mixing any of this stuff is dangerous. Do you realize that mixing uppers and downers like that can kill you?” He said in a patronizing tone. Taking a moment to collect himself he started wracking his brain for anything he’d missed. “Do you inject at all? Snort? Smoke? What’s your preferred method?”

“Honestly, I’ve always stuck to pills. The paraphernalia is too obvious, and the smell is too hard to hide from my parents and Don.”

“Thank god.” He gasped out, “OK, I know quite a bit about ecstasy and amphetamines which are going to be the easy one to deal with. Cold turkey, right now, you’re never having it again.” Colby ignored the yelp of dismay. “All I know about Ritalin abuse is that busts usually go down in college dorms, it’s a common academic drug. I imagine that’ll be like most mental health medications and you’ll have to be weaned off slowly. Valium, that’s dangerous, especially such long term use. I know we’ll have to cut you down over the span of several weeks. I’m calling Don and telling him that we’ll be gone longer than expected. We have to get you over the worst of the withdrawals before we can go back out. You’ll need to see a doctor, I’ll find one that can do an off the record house call. Maybe one of my army buddies can find me a medic.” As Colby talked Charlie looked more and more outraged.

“Colby, what if I don’t want to stop taking them? I thought the addict had to be ready to quit. I’m not ready damn it. I need this stuff or I can’t function! I’ll fail. Lose my job, my house, my family. I _need_ the pills.”

“Charlie do you really need the ecstasy?”

“ _Yes_!”

“So you can function at school? So you can function at work?”

“No. I suppose not, but I can’t relax without it. So I need it.”

“It’s my job to teach you how to relax without drugs. I know ways. Please, you have no idea how close you are to killing yourself.”

“You think I don’t? I have figured out the odds. Did it ever occur to you that that might be the point?” Charlie’s hand snaked, out grabbed the bag right out of his hand, and bolted into his room. The door slammed and the lock clicked. Colby groaned, grabbed the key to the room, and opened the door. By the time he got in, Charlie had already swallowed the ecstasy and Valium tablets. Granger grappled the rest out of his hand and tossed it out the window.

Charlie just laughed humorlessly and lay back to wait for it all to kick in. The first indications that the ecstasy was working was when he noticed the feel of the sheets on his legs. It was almost orgasmic every time he shifted, so he kept it up. His hand finding his limp cock and started stroking it to attention. “Care to help?” He asked in a languorously seductive voice.

Colby shook his head in disgust and sat there waiting for the sedatives to kick in. Charlie shook and grunted as he thrust into his own hand, Colby averted his eyes, praying for sleep to claim the other man. He usually enjoyed watching someone jack off but knowing that this was a drug fueled attempt at vengeance made it nauseating. Finally, after Charlie had screamed out an orgasm, his activity slowed, and then stopped all together. Loud snores echoed off the walls.

Reflecting on the last few hours and comparing them to his sister he realized that he was indeed in over his head. His sister had been ready to quit, she’s been at rock bottom for months before she showed up on Colby’s doorstep. Charlie didn’t even want to quit yet, he was still convinced the drugs were helping him. With a sigh he made a call he didn’t want to have to make. “Hey Don, we’re going to need more time. And I need you to call a buddy of mine. He knows someone who specializes in detox. I need to get Charlie checked out before I can do anything with him.”

“How bad is it?”

“It’s bad. He is counter medicating, Valium, Ritalin, pot, speed, and… and… ecstasy.”

“ _What_?!” Colby cringed, ear ringing from the yell. “Crap, did he tell you where he is getting it?”

“Not really, a doctor, a professor, and a bar tender. He claims to have had a prescription for the Valium since high school.”

“ _Dad_ , did you know anything about Charlie taking Valium in high school?” There was a pause and Don came back with a surprising answer. “He knew about it! The doctor told them that child prodigies have so much pressure that they need special meds to help them deal. They know now not to prescribe it to kids but back then… Dad had no idea he was still taking it.”

“Don, he went without for just a few hours and he started the shakes, this is bad, and I need him to see a doctor, call my friend and tell him everything. I also need you to do me a favor,”

“Oh Yeah, what’s that?”

“Come out and help me with him, just you. You would be shocked to know that he was quicker than me and managed to get a couple pills.”

“Are you serious?”

“Don’t worry too much Don, he needed to take some of them anyway, mind you he got a few more than I wanted him to have but still he needed them. We’ve gotta take him off slowly, that’s why we need more time. Tomorrows going to be hell, he usually takes six Ritalin a day; I’m only letting him have five and a half. I don’t even want to think about the next day. Starting tomorrow the ecstasy is gone completely. The problem is, I have to keep a supply of the other drugs in the cabin and I want to make sure that he doesn’t get any more than I want him to have.”

“I’ll see you early tomorrow, I’ll pack for a few days and we’ll wait this out together. I’ll have your medic out by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I'm texting you some instructions for picking up some meds from his pharmacist. Hopefully they'll go along with the request.” He hung up the phone and turned back to his charge. Colby wrestled the Lazy Boy chair from the living room to the bedroom where Charlie was sleeping.


	5. Day Two: Much needed back up arrives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Colby wake up early on day two to a panic attack. Don arrives with blackboards. A doctor comes to provide some medical support.

Around 4 A.M, he woke to Charlie screaming his way through a nightmare and all Colby’s sleep muddled brain could think was ‘ _damn this is going to be a rough week.’_ Colby sat on the bed to sooth his friend out of his fear. They both slept again.

Charlie began to wake up again around nine in the morning, the lingering effects of a near overdose making him groggy and confused. He was irritated to find a weight beside him that shouldn’t be there. Maybe he was dumb enough to go home with someone. _‘Oh god,’_ He thought _‘Dad’s going to be frantic! I’ve gotta get home.’_ Without looking at the other man, Charlie scrambled out of bed and headed for the exit. His shoes were in the living room so he pulled them on quickly and burst out the front door. Only, he wasn’t in the city, his car was nowhere to be found, and he couldn’t find his phone or his keys. He was just about to run anyway when a hand grabbed his arm. “Where are you going Charlie?”

Charlie knew that voice but his logic failed him from there. He glanced at the person holding him, he was so panicked that he didn’t recognize him. Convinced that he went home with the wrong man and was about to be murdered, Charlie fought to break free of the hand gripping his shoulder.

Granger saw the panic and knew this wasn’t an escape attempt. Charlie genuinely didn’t know where he was or who he was with. _“_ Charlie you’re ok buddy. Stop fighting me and come inside.” Colby grunted with strain as he gripped the professor, trying to be reassuring while keeping him from bolting at the same time. Charlie was practically levitating he fought so hard. He tried a military style order and barked out “Charlie LOOK at me!” He managed a solid grip and swung the wild animal that his friend had become around to look at him.

Still fearing for his life, Charlie figured if he complied he might have a chance at getting away. When he finally controlled his panic enough to comply with the order he was shocked to see a friendly face with compassionate green eyes.

“Come on buddy, come inside and I’ll make breakfast.” The familiar voice said in a normal, non-threatening tone. “Here, you were working on this yesterday and you haven’t told me what it’s about yet.”

In a surreal state of docility, Charlie followed Colby back into the place he couldn’t remember. The equation in the book was in his hand writing. He flipped through and realized that it was the trust metric analysis that was conducted on Colby. This was a new variable that had to be added, Colby had been in his bed. “Wait, did we have sex?” Charlie thought out loud.

“No, we didn’t. You had a bad dream, I guess I fell asleep beside you, sorry.”

“Colby where are we?”

“You mean you don’t remember?” Colby looked back at Charlie in surprise, and then he remembered a symptom of extended Valium and ecstasy use, memory loss. “We left from your place yesterday to come up here. We’re going to try to get you off the drugs and back on your feet.”

“Oh.” Charlie turned on his morning auto pilot and began to make coffee and fish out his pills. The calm search turned frantic as he realized he wasn’t home and there were no pills. He started to the bedroom but his way was blocked.

“Charlie, you won’t find it. I’ve taken every pill you have.”

“NO, I need them! You have to give them to me!” Don walked in at that moment, shocked to see his baby brother staring down a seasoned FBI agent. Wanting to see what Colby would do, he quietly backed out the door and watched through the window. “ _Colby_!” Charlie screamed when he didn’t get any response to his outburst.

“Calm down buddy, please. I’ll give you what you need, but you have to wait a bit OK. I have to go get it for you. Just hold on a minute.” Charlie calmed slightly. “I need you to go sit down.” Charlie pouted, but did as he was told. “Stay there or I won’t give them too you when I get back.” He said sternly. All the while feeling like he was talking to a four year old.  

“What if you don’t come back?” Charlie asked in a small terrified voice. “I don’t even know where we are.” He whispered, residual confusion clouding his reasoning so much that he honestly believed he could be abandoned.  

“Just watch that clock right there, if I’m not back in five minutes you can come looking for me. Don’t worry; I’m not going to leave you here.” With that Colby walked out the door. Don pushed his back up against the wall. As Colby went past he mouthed “Watch him, be right back.” Don retook his position at the window; careful to stay out of sight. Charlie managed a full two minutes before starting to fidget. He picked up a note book, glanced at the writing on the page and promptly threw it across the room. He stood up and started pacing. He then walked up to the window, Don got out of sight just in time. As the front door opened, Don slipped around the corner, intent on following when he heard Colby yell “Charlie, get back in the house or I’ll take longer coming back in.” Don had to stifle a chuckle as Charlie pouted again and went back in. He started rummaging through the cupboards, probably looking for a stash that wasn’t there. At the five minute mark Colby was standing with Don looking in the window. Charlie was near frantic and had moved his search to Colby’s things. At the six minute mark Colby walked through the door to stop the search. “Charlie, I don’t have anything in the house. You can stop looking now.”

“That means its outside” he shouted triumphantly.

“Actually, I intend on moving it every day.” Colby replied coldly.

“There are only so many places to safely hide the stuff, I’ll find it. I can find anything.” Charlie said with confidence. Then he approached Colby again with that seductive look. “You promised to give me some, I need those pills. I won’t be able to work without them. I can’t even think without them. You don’t want to be responsible for my failure do you?” Colby held his ground and Charlie turned angry. A few words were said and another mood swing occurred, this one startled both Don and Colby. Charlie collapsed onto the floor in a sobbing puddle “Please, if I don’t keep coming up with new things…. I won’t be anyone; I’m such a failure… I can’t even handle a little stress. Why don’t you just give me everything, I’ll take it and you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“Charlie I’m not going to do that. Here, this is all you’re getting today.” Looking up through tear filled eyes Charlie caught sight of the little yellow pills that he needed so much. His hands shook so much as he reached for them that he dropped one on the floor. With a strangled screech he dove for it, picked it up and tossed it into his mouth. Colby handed him his coffee and Charlie swallowed them down.

“That wasn’t enough.”

“You’re so lucky you’re not dead. Do you realize that? How close you’ve come. I’m cutting you down, you’re getting five and a half for the next little while, then we’ll drop it down again.”

“Colby I can’t do it. I don’t know how to function without.”

“I’ll help you, so will Don.” Colby glanced up and saw Don standing behind Charlie in the kitchen.

“Don isn’t here.” Charlie stated. He sounded even more dejected than before.

“Yes, I am buddy. I’m right here.” Don knelt down and threw his arms around his brother. Charlie responded to the touch immediately. With a sob he melted into arms that he wished would have held him for so many years. Charlie and Don sat there on the kitchen floor for almost an hour while Colby kept a watchful eye over the pair. Charlie made the first move to pull away and that was only because Colby’s phone started to ring.

“Granger… yes…. Already? Great… He is? Well that’s something of a miracle. And me?... good. Thanks man, if you ever need a favor, let me know, if it’s legal I’ll do it…. Yeah. Thanks again, bye.”

“Who was that?”

“That was the lab. Don, could I speak to your brother alone for a moment.” Don hesitated for a minute before heaving himself to his feet and slipping out of the kitchen. “Charlie” Colby whispered, “You are the luckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever met, all your tests came back negative. You are completely clean.”

Charlie leaned in so that they were inches apart, his lips almost touching Colby’s. “Does that mean you’ll fuck me Granger?” Charlie whispered, tilting his head as if he was going to press a kiss to his lips.

Colby smiled and pushed him back a step. “Not while your brothers here.”

“No, I suppose that would be a bad idea.” Charlie giggled. He stood up and refilled his mug. All traces of stress and anxiety gone from him. “Did we bring any blank books?”

“We did, they’re in the bedroom. Don, you can come back in now.”

Charlie started to walk out of the room only to have his arm snagged by his brother. “What Lab?”

“Oh, Colby figured all this out when he ran into me at a bar. I was there to pick up. He forced me to get a test done. I’m clean, though statistically speaking; I probably should have something nasty. Makes me wonder if the test was flawed… Hmmm, I wonder….” Breaking free of his brothers’ grip, Charlie wandered off to grab his books and start working. Don watched him go then turned to Colby. “He knows how to pick up women in a bar?”

“Not quite, but apparently he’s good at it.” Don gave his coworker a confused look, but he shook it off, figuring he would get an explanation later. “Look, I brought a few things that I figured would come in handy out here, care to help me bring them in?” Charlie had taken up residence on the couch and was muttering to himself so they didn’t have to worry about him for the moment.

“Sure. Look Don, I’m sorry you have to see this. But, I figured he would need you. You two are so close and he really needs to know that there are people who love him and are going to stick by him.”

“No, it’s cool. I just wish it wasn’t happening. Colby how did I miss this? I feel like I don’t deserve my badge.”

“Don’t Don, he has been working very hard to hide it. You know how it is with functional addicts, they can hide it up to a point, but then they lose control. My catching him was what tipped the balance is all. Just be glad that we got to him before any permanent damage.” Don flipped the back hatch of his truck open. Inside were all of Charlie’s black boards from the garage at his home. There were also several large boxes of chalk and a bunch of reference books. It took almost an hour to carry all the items in.

Just as Charlie began to get restless he heard the pop and crunch of wheels on gravel. Looking out the window, Charlie saw a man in military gear step out and pull Colby into a side hug. After that Charlie lost interest and went back to his notebook.

 Outside Colby and Don approached to great the newcomer. “Hey, Colby! Long time no see man! Heard you’ve got another one?”

Colby slapped his buddy’s back and smiled wide. “Corporal Kennedy, It’s great to see you! I thought you were still stationed in Idaho or I would have called you directly. You look great.” Then Colby sobered. “He is in here, but I have to warn you, it’s bad, man.” He gave a brief rundown of the drugs and dosages his friend had been taking for years.

 “Valium, Ecstasy, Speed, and Ritalin? We gotta worry about his heart. I may be ordering you to take him to emergency instead of offering a bit of advice like last time. The doses he is on are way too high. He has to be brought off quickly. How much have you given him today?”

“Five and a half 20 mg tablets of Ritalin, he normally takes six. I figured on leaving him on that for a couple of days. But I want to swap at least one out with a lesser dose by the end of the week. I’ll need a prescription from you to do it though.”

“I’ll have to see the patent first before I ok that.” They walked into the house and found Charlie sitting on the couch looking anything but calm. The Medic walked over and introduced himself then he promptly began his exam. Colby and Don sat in the kitchen nursing their coffee for almost two hours before Kennedy walked into the room. “Well, he fell asleep, so I had plenty of time to examine him. He’s nearly tachycardic, but then, he has almost double the recommended dose of stimulant in him. I think you should be ok to do what you have planned. I figure you should have him down to 20 mg of Ritalin and 5 mg of valium within a month. That is extremely fast mind you, and the withdrawals are going to be horrible.”

“OK, so what can we expect?”

“He is going to drop off to sleep when he is normally on the stimulant and he may not sleep at all when he is normally on the depressants. Sweats, nausea, muscle cramping, jitters, chest and abdominal pain, sound and light sensitivity, headaches, abnormal feeling limbs, short term memory loss, confusion, and maybe blurred vision will be the physical symptoms. Those won’t even be bad compared to the psychological ones. Anger, agitation, anxiety, paranoia, fear, psychosis, a feeling that things aren’t real or that he isn’t real, suicidal thoughts, mood swings, but most of all, every one of these drugs he’s on lead to depression during withdrawals. That being said, I am prescribing an anti-depressant for him to take starting in a month. I’ll be coming out here every other day to check on him for at least two weeks. At the first sign of real trouble I want you to call an ambulance.” His proclamation was met with stunned silence so he continued. “You boy’s are going to have to hold on tight this is going to be a _very_ bumpy road. It’ll be hell, what your sister went through Granger, was a cake walk, this’ll be ten times worse. Keep him hydrated, keep him eating, and don’t let him out of your sight. Not even to piss. If you can, stay in the same room, nail the window’s shut, lock the doors from the outside, and wait him out. There _might_ be a few good times, most will be bad.”

“How should I schedule doses?”

He handed them a sheet of paper with a dosing schedule. “I’d say wake him up at 0800, Ritalin is supposed to be three doses a day but we’re going to do it in two, so another at noon do half and half. For the sedative don’t give in till at least 2200. That way the majority of the Stimulant will be out of his system. You have to get the meds to stop overlapping. Don’t let him have any more speed or ecstasy; you can safely stop that one cold-turkey, but its hell to do. He probably won’t notice the withdrawals from the speed; it’ll be drowned out by everything else.”

“Good. I already destroyed the supply. Don brought out a new bottle of Valium and he’s running out in a few minutes to get the new Ritalin prescription. I want to know where everything came from.”

“Call if you have any concerns, I’ll come running if you need me. Good luck men, you are going to need it. That boy’s a handful. See you in two days.”


	6. Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie copes, Don Learns, Colby sighs in frustration. 
> 
> Please read and comment! Your feedback is always appreciated :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally retired the old computer (I now have a reliable internet connection and a computer screen where the pixels are all intact!) I am working on finding my writing groove again. Hopefully I'll go back to once a week posts.
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Charlie managed to sleep fairly well that night, Don and Colby held their breath waiting for an explosion that never came. Colby repeatedly reminded both of them that the other shoe would drop eventually.

Don huffed in irritation, he’d dealt with jonesing suspects before. He knew the drill. Colby laughed and said “You didn’t know those people. When it’s your sibling, trust me it’s hell.”

“Alright, stow the lessons. Let’s sleep while we can.”

The next morning Charlie woke up disoriented. Much like the previous morning he attempted to bolt from the cabin. When Don and Colby stopped him from escaping the depths of his confusion became crystal clear; They both exchanged concerned looks when Charlie firmly refused to acknowledge that they were who they said they were. Arguing that when he wakes up away from home, he doesn’t know anyone so logically, Don wasn’t Don and Colby wasn’t Colby. It took them quite a while to convince him otherwise.

That set the tone for the day, Charlie would be fine for a brief time then panic over something. He’d throw himself at his work, then be trying to bolt, then sleep only to wake up and repeat the escape.

They’d had an hour or so of peace, long enough that Don and Colby had turned their attention to catching up on paperwork. Charlie scribbled equations. Colby glanced up and sighed, his friend’s movements were becoming restless, he kept glancing around suspiciously. He scratched at his arms. They were about to have an explosion.

Suddenly, Charlie yelled out, “Don! Watch out for that spider! Holy shit, it’s… its huge!” Colby sighed, ‘Great’ he thought, ‘hallucinations’.

Of course, Don’s response was far less calm, he hadn’t yet realized what was going on. Don jumped up searching for the threat, but when he looked down to where his sibling pointed there was no spider. The annoyed shout died in his throat as Charlie ran over and slammed a book down on top of it. When he lifted the edge of the book to inspect the apparent corpse he jumped back and cried out in panic. He backed away until he bumped into the wall. Then he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes widened and he started screaming.

“Charlie what are you seeing buddy?” Colby asked in a surprisingly calm voice. Don was in a panic, just as much as his brother, but then he had never seen someone hallucinate like this before. “Tell me what you see.”

Frantically brushing off his clothes, he sunk to the floor staring wide eyed around himself. “Spiders, there are spiders crawling all over, Col, they’re going to get me, make them stop!”

“Charlie, there are no spiders.” He stated firmly taking Charlie’s face in his hand, forcing eye contact. “This is in your head.”

“No! Oh God, make them go away!” Charlie began to claw at his arms, smacking away the bugs trying to get them out of his skin.

Colby gripped his hands, stopping him from harming himself. “Charlie, take a deep breath and listen. There aren’t any spiders here. Don tell him.” Colby glanced back over his shoulder.

Don slowly shook off his own fear and knelt beside him, “He’s right Chuck. I don’t see any spiders.”

“What?”

“How can the room be covered in spiders if Don and I don’t see them?”

Charlie’s voice cracked with despondency when he whispered, “I don’t know.”

“Picture them all disappearing. They will. They aren’t real. Do you understand? They are not real.” The horrified man began to regain control as he listened to the calm voice. Although, it was hard for Charlie to grasp how his friend and brother could be so calm with spiders crawling over their faces. But soon the apparitions began to fade; slowly each arachnid once again became invisible.

He sagged into Colby’s arms when the last one vanished. “What the hell was that Colby?” asked Charlie in an unsteady voice.

“A Hallucination. There were no spiders; we never saw any. It was in your head.”

“I don’t like that symptom and I hope it never comes back.”

“Sorry Buddy, but these are the consequences of long term use. Until the withdrawals are over it’s going to keep happening. But we’ll help you through it.”

“You’re not very comforting you know.”

Colby smirked a bit then reassured him, “It’ll never come back if you get off the drugs and stay off them.”

“Ok, ok, I get it, stop preaching already.” Charlie grumbled, pushing off the floor to return to this notepad. He didn’t try to hide the fact that the brushed off the chair and shook out the book before sitting. Just to be certain.

The spiders did return throughout the day, creeping in when Charlie let his guard down. All Don and Colby could do was wait it out, hold him when he wanted it and keep clear when he needed it. To compensate for the anxiety and fear growing in his gut Charlie found a friend older than the drugs. His chalkboards beckoned and no matter how many bugs filled the room or dug under his skin, his boards stayed clean.

Don was leaning on the door jamb of the room just before ten when his brother leaned down to replace a spent piece of chalk. He brushed the box off, sealed himself and opened it; he gave a muffled screech and tossed the box away, frantically brushing invisible things off his skin. Don leaned down, picked up the chalk and handed one over with a sigh. Mentally berating himself for not seeing the state his brother was in sooner.


	7. Day 4: Chalk Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Corporal returns for an assessment and wonders about chemical attacks.

The Doctor arrived early the next morning for a follow up. Letting himself in the door and immediately started sneezing. Chalk dust clogged the air, swirls of it caught the light as it spun lazily in the sun streaming through the kitchen windows. The doctor’s hand flew to cover his nose expecting that there had been some sort of chalk explosion until Colby and Don walked into the room. Colby smiled a greeting at the Corporal and seemed blissfully unaware of the contaminants in the air as he cooked breakfast. “Morning Corporal.”

“This much chalk dust can actually make you sick you know.” He said casually.

Colby indicated the open window and the exhaust fan. “We’re doing our best to keep it down to a minimum.”

Slowly lowering his hand he glared at them, “Try harder, I thought I’d walked into an anthrax attack. How does someone generate this much chalk dust?”

Colby snorted, amused. Don muttered “Welcome to my world.” Then lead him toward the living room. Inside Charlie was calmly clacking away at one of the dozen boards.  

“So, how’s our patient?”

Both agents assure him that nothing drastic had changed in the last two days other than the hallucinations. A quick assessment confirmed their impressions, easing some of the tension in Don’s back. Kennedy did express concern with the amount of writing on the blackboards, loose paper and notebooks throughout the house. All three men laughed at that. “Just wait till you wake up one morning and there are equations written all over the walls! That happened all the time when we were kids” Charlie blushed at his brothers’ jab. After assuring the Corporal that his writing had nothing to do with withdrawals and was probably a good sign, he left saying that he would again be back in two days.

If anything the amount of chalk dust increased as the hours went by. Charlie worked non-stop. Only pausing when forced to eat or drink. Colby watched all this, a feeling of foreboding deep in his gut. It was only a matter of time before the next shoe dropped, likely by morning when they dropped his doses again. 


	8. Day 5: "They really should take my badge!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The complicated situation hits new levels with confessions, alcohol, and stress relief. 
> 
> Please read and review!   
> Enjoy a tiny bit of smut to break the tension.

Charlie was seeing thing waking and sleeping. Just now people were crawling out of the mirror in the hall, their figures blurred and glitching as they lurched toward him. When he was in the bathroom taking a shower last night blood started to ooz out of the drain, hot black oil out of the shower head. After that bugs filled his bed. Shadows came to life in unexpected ways, chasing him through the building.

To help Charlie, Don and Colby covered the mirrors, made sure to leave extra lights on all the time. They kept their distance, but offered support quickly when the waking dreams would start.

They watched the writing on the boards as though the quality of math was acting as a portent of doom. It started neat, flowing and legible. Every once in a while there would be a line across a page or a board and a new thought would start. Don took a picture of each board, just in case it was some sort of genius scientific breakthrough. By six on the evening of day five the flow was gone and neatness was a thing of the past. There was also no way to distinguish between one thought and the next.

That’s when the next symptom appeared. Don had always known Charlie talked to himself when he was working, but this was different. He was louder, obviously frustrated, and starting to get angry. This, combined with the chaotic nature of the numbers gave Don warning that things were beginning to go south. Then abruptly at eight o’clock the math stopped. And Charlie hit his first uncontrollable craving for ecstasy.

“Colby?” A sickeningly sweat voice warbled.

“Yes Charlie.”

“I need to go out for a bit.”

“I can’t let you do that buddy.”

“Awe, but I really need to, it has been too long. There are needs that I have, ones that I enjoy tending too. Maybe you could help me… umm… scratch that itch? I know you want me…” Colby was very glad Don had gone out for air. But he knew he’d have to come out to his boss soon or Charlie was going to do it for him. “If I remember correctly, you told me I was ‘devastatingly’ attractive.”

“I did say that, but Charlie, I want you when you’re healthy and sober. I want to make sure you really want to cross that line with me.”

“Oh, trust me I want to cross it.” Charlie advanced on Colby, their lips crashed together in a bruising kiss. It took a second for Colby to push him away.

“Charlie your brother is outside.” Based on how the younger man leaned back into his body that wasn’t a concern. Glancing back out the window, Colby could see Don standing down by the water. He let Charlie’s hands go and kissed back.

Now Charlie was ecstatic, that kiss felt amazing. He wanted nothing more than to fall into that body. A thought jumped into his mind after several minutes of intensity. ‘ _I need my stuff. Oh, look how close I am to the man holding my pills hostage. If I could just get one…_ ’ Slowly he began to feel pockets. It took all of four seconds for him to be caught.

Colby pushed him away, anger evident in his every move. “Charlie, what do you think you’re doing?” he hissed; relieved that he never carried pills on him.

Charlie was dumbfounded with his own behaviour. Things were actually going well but somehow, he had managed to fuck it up. “Why did I do that? I didn’t want to do that so why did I do it?” He muttered. His breathing quickened and he took off, slamming the door to his bedroom with a loud crash. Don came running at the sound Colby offered an edited explanation.

They found Charlie hidden in a closet and there was no doubt that it was a panic attack. This was something they had discussed, if one of them triggered a panic attack the other would be the one to intervene. That way they avoided compounding the problem and avoided creating a rift between either of them. Which meant it was Don who slowly approached.  

“Chuck, it’s OK buddy. I’m here for you OK? Just calm down, no one’s gonna hurt you.”

“I can’t breathe.” It felt like his lungs were collapsing.

“Yes you can, just take deep breaths and try to relax. I mean come on, we both know Colby wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I think you should call the doctor, I… swear I’m gonna die… I’m dying!”

“You’re not going to die, I promise.”

 “Oh God, I can’t breathe. I’m dizzy, and I can’t feel my arms. It’s a heart attack. You…”

“You’re not going to die. You feel like that ‘cause you’re not breathing properly. Come on buddy.” This went on for a while without reprieve, then it became evident that the trembling young man was no longer seeing what anyone else was seeing. “Please, don’t hurt me…” whimpered the terrified man.

“Buddy, I’m not going to hurt you. Calm down a bit and listen.” That was when Don made an error in judgment. He leaned forward to grab his brother’s arms.

“I swear I’ll fight back!” Charlie cried as Don began to move. “I won’t go down easily…” He stilled for a minute as his brother/attacker’s hands made contact and then he lashed out. Don was flung backwards by a surprisingly powerful but not altogether unexpected blow. Charlie was up and attacking Colby a second later.

“Charlie, just calm down no one’s trying to hurt you.” It didn’t take long for Don to step back in and pin his brother to the bed. He held him there while the thing that was his brother writhed underneath him. It lasted about thirty seconds more, and then Charlie passed out. “Damn.” Was all either of them could say as they gasped for breath.

Colby sat with the now sleeping professor while his boss went to clean his split lip and grab some ice for his blackening eye. “It’s alright babe,” he whispered, “this is going to be hard, but I swear I’ll be there through it all.” He tenderly brushed his fingers through the sweat filled mass of curly brown hair. Don snuck back into the room in time to see Colby lean down and kiss his brother on the forehead.

Quietly, so as not to wake their patient Don gestured for his underling to join him in the hall. “Colby, is there something you want to tell me?” Blushing furiously Colby tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn’t get him fired. He finally decided on telling the entire truth.

“Look man, I need to tell you something and you need to not get mad at me.” Don wasn’t really angry, he was just confused and stressed out. All he wanted at that moment was the truth. “You know that I first ran into Charlie at a bar right?” At Don’s curt nod Colby took heart and continued. “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you this, but if you intend to keep helping me here you need to know it all. It was a gay bar…”

“ _What_?” This information completely blindsided the seasoned agent. In fact, the idea that his brother might be gay too was far more shocking than the idea that he was a drug addict. He’d thought he was the only one in the family.

“Shhh, keep it down you’ll wake him. Yes it was a gay bar,” Colby took a deep breath and plunged into a confession he didn’t want to make, “One I go to all the time. Apparently, so does Charlie and he has a pretty bad reputation. When he said he picks up… its men, and from what I hear he mostly heads to the back when he’s successful. I don’t know how much you know about gay bars, but pretty much anything goes once you cross that line. This is why I had him tested. You have no idea how lucky he is, to be sleeping around like that while high, I don’t know how he managed not to catch anything. People who are careful catch stuff.”

Don chose that moment to collapse onto the floor, propping himself up on the bathroom door jamb so he could keep an eye on his baby brother. “So my baby bro is gay?” There was a pause then an incredulous “Wait, what were you doing at… Oh my god, you’re not just saying Charlie’s gay! Are you trying to tell me you are too?”

“I’ve known since I was a kid. I’m out to my sister and that’s about it. I wouldn’t be telling you now if it wasn’t so important. You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. The rest of my family would literally kill me if they found out, I don’t mean that figuratively.”

Don just looked dazed and there was no immediate response. And then he asked quietly, “What about Charlie? When did he know?”

Colby shrugged, “He won’t talk to me. Before we leave I’m going to make him though. All I know is what the bouncer at Handles, that’s the bar we were at, told me. He comes in every few nights to pick up. He rarely goes home with them, mostly he takes ‘em to the back for a quickie. Sometimes a couple a night. But I was told that every person who gets involved with him ends up hating him. Apparently, they all thought he was mentally challenged too, called him ‘slow’. The dude at the door laughed when I told him what Charlie was, he didn’t believe me. Told me to stay as far away from him as I could. That Chuck is gay but doesn’t want to be so he takes it out on those he fucks.”

“Oh whoa, that so doesn’t jive with what I know of my kid brother. Do you think that’s why he’s on the drugs?”

“Honestly? No, maybe ecstasy, but from what he _has_ told me, he started talking the drugs to deal with the academic and professional pressure. I know there’s something else he isn’t telling me too. The three ways he deals with the numbers in his head, he said, ‘drugs, sex and something else’. It worries me what else he does. It’ll be self-destructive I can assure you of that.”

“Crap, again how did I miss this? Maybe they should take my badge!”

“Don’t feel bad none of us figured it out, not even your Dad and he lives with Charlie. Hell, I figured him for a straight man the moment I saw him. And I’m pretty good at pickin’ ‘em out of a crowd. So far my life has depended on it.”

“So you’re gay? I just can’t see it.” Don was secretly pleased at this. Now he didn’t feel so alone at work. It still didn’t make him feel any less like a failure for not seeing all this going on under his nose though.

“Good! That was my goal. Is this going to be a problem?”

“Nah, don’t stress about it. I don’t want you messing with my brother though, at least not now.”

“He is going to use it, he knows about me. The panic attack, it started cause he came on to me to get his shit. I intend to keep him at arm’s length.”

“That’s not what I saw in the bedroom a few minutes ago.”

“You weren’t supposed to see that.” A slight smile crossed both of their lips at that comment.

“How is that arms length? You called him babe.”

Colby was getting a bit angry… “Ah, what the hell.” Colby grunted. “In for a penny in for a pound.” He turned to face his boss with a heartbroken expression _“_ Damn it Don, I’d give anything to be with him. I’ve been in love with that man for years. But I’m not stupid; I haven’t ever met the real Charlie. I think I love him, but I can’t get involved until I know…” He immediately regretted saying so much.

“Shit man, you’ve got it bad don’t you?” Don replied, a small smirk playing across his lips.

He was so shocked by the humor that he followed up like he would one of his buddies at the bar. “Do you know how happy I was when Amita left? Shows what I know, she was running from Charlie’s insanity.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“Look, you won’t have any trouble from me. That is unless you hurt him. I won’t pass any judgments on what you do until after he’s clean and into some counseling.” Something wasn’t sitting right; Don was taking this too well. So he asked why.

“You’re not the only one who’s good at hiding.” Don said, then he got up off the floor, and went back in to check on his brother.

Colby’s head was spinning. Did that mean what he thought it did? Could his gaydar be that off? Did he miss two gay men right in his circle of friends? He immediately denied the implications, Don was a total ladies man. One night stands all the way. His love ‘em and leave ‘em rep is legendary in the bureau! But then that could be a cover, lord knows he’d done it.

Don came out of the room; passed his friend and headed out to his truck, when he came back he had a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He sat back down beside Colby and took a swig then handed the bottle over. Colby took it and drank too, watching Don out of the corner of his eyes as he swallowed, apparently savoring the burn. Then he turned to Colby. “I think I’m jealous. If I had have known, I’d would'a asked you out years ago.”

“Are you serious?” Colby nearly dropped the bottle at the frankness of the statement. He glanced into the room before downing a second huge mouthful. “Don, I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. And you don’t have to reciprocate. I wouldn’t have been looking for a long term thing anyway. You seem like the serial monogamy type to me. Always figured if you fell for someone, it would be for the long haul. I’m quite happy with a few nights with a person. You know me, can’t keep anyone for more than a month. To be honest, it’s by choice. I just don’t think I could ever stay in one bed that long.”

“Could be ‘cause you married your job and a total Daddies boy.” Colby replied with a smile. “Joking aside, Don what’re you saying to me?”

“I don’t know. I’m a one night stand kinda guy and I like chicks as much as dicks.” Both men chuckled at that. “OK so dicks a tad more than chicks but who’s counting?”

“Ummm, OK.” There was a long silence as they both knocked back a few more mouthfuls. They heard some muttering and then a yell coming from the bedroom. They both jumped up off the hall floor to sooth Charlie out of his nightmare. Glancing at the time they noticed it was eleven and time for a dose. Colby jogged out to grabbed it. Don woke his brother up. Charlie immediately reached for the pills and downed them without saying a word.    

“Hey chuck, do you wanna talk?”

Charlie gave his brother a skeptical look but took a deep breath. “Don, I would really rather not. I’m tired and I want to sleep. Please just leave me alone.” Charlie turned his back on them and pulled up the covers.  

“All right buddy, Colby and I will be in the living room if you need us.” Charlie nodded and laid his head on the pillow.

The two agents made a strategic retreat. “Ah well,” whispered Colby, “it was worth a shot.”

Don nodded. “Why won’t he talk?” Don asked despondently.

“Because he hurts, he’s confused, and he’s angry. From what I understand I’m the only person he’s _ever_ opened up to.”

“My mother; she and Charlie were very close.” Both men plopped down on the couch.

 Colby grunted, acknowledging the truth of Don’s statement. He held up the bottle again, “Thanks for bringing this; I think I needed the de-stresser.”

“No problem, although the irony of getting drunk while trying to dry someone else out is not lost on me.” There was a brief pause and a thought struck the older man. “You know, I just had an idea. What if we went and got a fire safe, or something with a lock on it? That way we wouldn’t have to be so paranoid about the location of our supplies and Charlie won’t be able to get them. We could both keep a key. Between the two of us we could keep him from opening it if he got one of ‘em.” He glanced at his friend and co-worker to see if the idea was a good one. “He wouldn’t be able to pick it fast enough, given how much his hands shake.”

Colby slowly slapped his palm to his forehead. “Now why didn’t I think of that? Gods that would have solved so many problems with my sister too…” Don had to laugh at that. “I’ll call Kennedy and ask him to pick it up on his way out.” About an hour later the liquor was a distant memory, Charlie was sleeping soundly, the game was on the TV and both men quite drunk. Colby was spaced out and not really seeing anything when he felt a finger trail along his neck. With a start, he looked over to see Don eyeing him intently. “Don, what’re you doing?”

“Not sure, I don’t know that I can deal with this.” Colby let out a sigh and pulled the troubled man into an embrace. They snuggled together for a few minutes before Colby spoke.

“You can, it’s just going to take some time. This is harder than was with my sister. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death, but if I said the wrong thing or messed up in some way, I wasn’t risking a possible relationship. She’ll always be there. Charlie may walk away or even hate me after this is over.” His hand started to rub Don’s arm. Then next thing he knew Don’s lips were on his. It wasn’t the hungry kiss that had come from Charlie earlier that day. It was more like Don was asking for and offering a temporary shelter.

“Colby, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I think we could both use the release.”

“Don I can’t, what about Charlie?”

“Do you really think you can keep your distance if he keeps coming on to you like that? At least this way you will be satisfied a bit. And have a safe place to put that attention till he is better. Aside from your hand and a shower. ”

“Are you seriously offering to be a substitute for your own brother, ‘cause that’s odd even for an Eppes.”

Don acknowledge this, but it didn’t seem to deter him. “I think the call it co-dependency, at least that’s what Megan always said.”

Thinking furiously for a moment Colby weighed his options. It could be a horrid mistake, fucking his boss. But he knew that Don worked with people he slept with all the time. He also had a point; if Charlie kept coming on to him without any sort of release he’d do something stupid.

_“_ Ah, what the hell.” In a moment of pure reckless abandon, carnal need, and liquid decision-maker, overcame the normally stoic young man.

He flipped Don onto his back. Their lips met again. It wasn’t loving, it was quick and dirty. Pure lust and pent up energy. Keeping their voices down and half an ear out for Charlie, they sunk into each other. Hands and mouths slowly migrated, exploring every accessible inch. Shirts landed on the floor, pants shucked down to the knee. Hands reached each other’s hardness simultaneously. They attempted to quell the moaning and gasping as they thrust into each other’s grip. The friction brought the frustrated men to climax much quicker than either of them anticipated, even with the alcohol. With a few more mutual thrusts both men came — hard — their mouths locked together to muffle the inevitable cries of pleasure.

They lay together for a while before Colby got up, feeling guilty. He grabbed his clothing and headed for the shower. Don dressed slowly, looked in on his brother (still burrowed under the covers asleep), and went to stand in the doorway of the bathroom.

“Do you regret that?”

Colby sighed “No. I needed it, but I can’t say that I’m happy about it. You’re my boss and all I really want is your brother. I guess I feel like I used you.”

“Nah, man you didn’t use me. I like it this way, quick, no emotional attachment, pure sex. If you don’t want to do it again, I won’t be insulted.”

“Oh hey, I never said I didn’t want to do it again,” Colby’s head poked out from behind the curtain with a grin, “if you don’t feel used, then I’m good with it. But let’s not tell Charlie till he is much, much better. He wouldn’t understand. You’re aware that the second he’s on his feet, I’m ending this right?”

“Yeah, I figured.” He shrugged. “Have a good night. It’s my turn in a bed tonight. You get the kid.”

“Don, he is anything but a kid… And I really don’t mind staying with him.”

“Neither do I, but it _is_ nice to sleep through the night.”

“Ha, yeah no doubt. Is this what it’s like to have a newborn baby?” They went their separate ways, feeling calmer and better equipped to handle the insanity that had become their lives.


End file.
